A Myriad of Ordinary Things
by TheWordFountain
Summary: *Incomplete* A series of one-shots for individual characters that lead through the twenty-five days leading up to Christmas. Lily E. takes December 1st...
1. That Christmas String

_Disclaimer: I write Harry Potter fanfiction for enjoyment. That's all. This holds over for all chapters._

That Christmas String

L is for Lily

The sixteen-year-old Lily bobbed her feet up and down idly as she stared into the fire in a not-so-focused manner. It was winter – December 1st to be exact - and she was not happy in the least bit. It was cold and she was stuck inside – there was no way to escape Potter now.

Lily let a sigh escape her and she turned her gaze towards the coffee table where she had recently been finishing her homework. She was currently sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room – that was nearly abandoned - and wishing that she could just go to bed.

Lily took a quick glance towards the stairs leading up to the boys' dormitories wondering if she should just risk her friends' anger for using _Lumos_ for homework instead of suffering under the frantic whispers of Potter and his friends hiding on the staircase. Shaking her head, Lily turned her head back to the fire, snuggling closer under the gold-trimmed red blanket. She slowly closed her eyes, readying herself for sleep, although she should be finishing homework, when...

"Hey, Lily!"

"Ah!" Lily screamed. She flung her hand up in surprise and found herself smacking someone behind her in the face.

"That wasn't very nice, now was it?" Sirius said as he rubbed his slightly pink nose.

"What do you want, Black?" Lily asked, sighing. Being pulled out of a sore mood by a nuisance wasn't a good way to lift her spirits – not to mention she had just been about to fall asleep!

"I need your help," Sirius said with a wide grin.

"What is it?" Lily gave another loud sigh causing Sirius to give her a mock reproachful look, which she brushed off.

"I need you to take this string." Sirius pulled a string out his cloak pocket and shoved it in Lily's face as he walked around the velvet chair, causing her to shrink as far back into her seat as she could.

Lily took her foot and gave Sirius a hard push in the chest, causing him to go crashing into the coffee table behind him. Lily fought to hide her grin and stood up, putting her hands on her hips. "Now what am I supposed to do with a random string?"

Sirius gasped and put his hand up over the string as if protecting it. "This is not some random string – this is magic."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and so is this whole place."

"Regardless!" Sirius pursued, holding up his hand and squinting.

Lily shook her head and just gave a small smile at the strange boy before her. "It's a string. What am I supposed to do with it?"

Sirius turned to her with a grave face. "I need you to take the string."

"What will happen if I take the string?" Lily asked.

"Are you trying to be difficult, woman?" Sirius groaned.

Lily scowled at Sirius. "What – am I – supposed – to use – the string – for?" She said in intervals, taking a grand crescendo to show her frustration.

Sirius opened his mouth to reply smartly, but they both were distracted as the Common Room portrait flew open and then slammed shut. Sirius glanced at the door in surprise, shaking his head, and then turned back to Lily – opening his mouth once again.

Lily tapped her foot impatiently.

"Uh – what was the question again?" Sirius asked.

Lily took a deep breath and began massaging her tired eyes. She just wanted to go to bed! Why did she have Sirius push a _piece of string onto her?_

"Why do I need the piece of string?" Lily asked once more. "I'm warning you now, Black – if you don't answer the question right now I _promise_ I will not take the string and I will go straight up to my dormitory and fall asleep!"

Sirius gave her a pleading look and then took a quick glance around the Common Room. "I'll be frank, all right?"

"That's all I ask," Lily said with a nod of her head.

"This is something I _really_ need you to do. Please take the string – It's all in the thought of Christmas spirit!" Sirius said while holding out the small piece of glittering string hopefully.

Lily stared at his solemn face and judged it. Then, with the hope that this wasn't some ridiculous joke, she snatched the string from Sirius's hands.

Sirius's smile grew until it took up the whole bottom half of his face and he bowed. "Thank you, fair lady."

Lily waved her hand around and rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Sirius stood back up and stared at her, as if wishing to say something to her.

Lily just gazed at him and raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"Aren't you going?" Sirius said.

"What the hell do you mean, Black?" Lily said with a scoff.

"Well, _obviously_ you're supposed to be going to the Entrance Hall!"

Lily walked menacingly towards Sirius, raising her fist to shake it at him. Sirius began backing away slowly. "So help me, Black – if you don't tell me the whole story behind this damn piece of string I'll get you detention with your family!"

"Okay, okay!" Sirius said as he cowered behind a chair.

Lily backed away, taking deep calming breaths.

"You need to take that piece of string and tie it to another piece of string in the Entrance Hall." Sirius slowly began backing towards the dormitory stairs, finally breaking out into a run as he reached the bottom of the staircase and the end of his explanation. "Trust me – it's all in the spirit of Christmas!"

Lily glared at the now empty staircase and turned towards the chair she had recently been lounging in. She threw on some slippers and walked towards the Fat Lady's Portrait. She stopped and held back from pushing it open. She didn't really have to listen to Sirius. She could just walk on up to bed and go to sleep. Right?

She could – but she was curious. It was a piece of string – what could be so important about this piece of string being tied to another in the Entrance Hall?

Lily pushed the portrait open purposefully and shivered as the cold castle air hit her menacingly. Not the best time to be wearing a tee-shirt and thin PJ pants. Lily uncrossed her arms and stared at the piece of string, watching the glitter woven into it shine as she passed the occasional torch in the corridors.

Lily finally came to a stop – around the third floor – and pulled herself closer to a torch. The first reason to warm her cold body, the second to be able to find out where she was - due to her not having her wand handy, and the third to figure out what colour the string was.

She was warm within a few minutes, but throughout that whole time, she spent it studying the piece of string. It was only a little longer than her middle finger and it was red and green all interwoven with glitter sparkling off it – much like those festive hair ties that many department stores sell around Christmas time. Lily sighed and shook her head, pulling her eyes away from the intriguing piece of string, and began looking for a marker to signify where she was.

After looking around for a good amount of minutes, she found down the corridor was a large statue that was of a raven – there was no reason for it, but that told her that she was near the staircase towards the second floor.

By the time Lily arrived at the Entrance Hall, she was shivering again. She clapped her slippers down against the floor as she walked towards the middle of the pitch-black room, turning in circles to see if her eyes would adjust or see any kind of light.

After she found her eyes would not adjust, she sighed and shook her head. "Absolutely ridiculous of Sirius to send me to do a dirty job in pitch-black! Prat," Lily muttered.

"You probably shouldn't be calling him the prat," a voice muttered behind her.

Lily spun herself around in surprise and light soon flooded the room.

James Potter stared back at her with a blushing face hidden behind a hand. "Sorry. You can go back to bed. This was stupid."

Lily shook her head angrily and her mouth fell to the floor. "No way – you made me travel all the way down her for a stupid piece of string and I want to know why!"

James sighed and pulled out a bouquet of flowers. "The string was just a decoy. I was – I was going to give you these lilies, but you don't like lilies, do you? I mean, it was so hard to get them in winter so I thought – well, I don't know what I thought."

Lily shrugged. "A decoy?"

James gave a sheepish grin, but immediately swiped it off his face. "Sorry. This – this was really stupid. I should've just let you fall asleep."

Lily slowly let a grin creep up her face. "The string was a decoy to get me down her so you could ask me out?" She asked in disbelief.

James stared at her apologetically, with a small twinge of "why are you smiling about this, crazy lady?" thrown in.

Lily then burst into laughter, holding the string in her hand and staring at it. Tears began to form in her eyes and she found herself crying from laughing so much.

James just stood dumbfounded and let the arm holding the lilies drop. "I told you the idea was stupid. You don't like lilies."

"No – no!" Lily waved her free hand and pulled up from her crouched position – tears, stomach pains; laughing could sometimes be painful.

"What? Are you okay?" James asked fervently.

"No! I'm fine," Lily slowly pulled herself up to a standing position and let out a few last chuckles. "Lilies are fine. I just – don't like receiving them. It's kind of corny."

"Either way, it was a bad idea. I'll take you back up to the Common Room. You don't have your wand," James muttered dejectedly.

"No," Lily said softly.

"What? Don't you want to go to bed?" James asked.

Lily slowly reached a hand out and grabbed the bouquet of lilies. She took the piece of string and held the flowers in the crook of her arm as to not crush them, and tied the Christmas themed string to the bottom.

"Er-" James started.

"Look," Lily said with a teasing smile, "if you're desperate enough to use a piece of string as a decoy to get near me and ask me out – then maybe I should give you a chance."

James slowly let a grin creep up his face – as if afraid that what Lily was saying was a joke. "Are you sure?"

Lily bit her lip. Fighting this for six years was a hard battle, but – but there would always be a doubt in her mind. If she turned him down now, she would wonder. She would wonder if it would've been good to accept it – just try one small date with him. It wouldn't kill, would it?

"Yes. I'm sure."

James face sprung into a giant smile and went to hug her, but pulled back awkwardly. "Sorry."

Lily shook her head and took the one step needed towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck. When she pulled away, she began the walk back to the common room, James using his wand to light the way ahead.

The silent walk was awkward, but it was something they would overcome. And the silence wasn't as bad as Lily would have thought either. She was almost content – she was almost flying from happiness!

Lily stopped at the entrance to the Gryffindor Common room. "And James?"

"Yeah?" James said as he turned his face towards her, bringing the light closer to their faces.

"The lilies are wonderful."

* * *

**A/N: **This is for the 25 Days of Christmas Challenge over at HPFC. There will be twenty-five chapters all together.

Anyway, this was my first time writing Lily/James. Wow. I loved it. So much fun!

**Questions: Did I manage to keep Lily in character? What about Sirius? How was the story overall?**

**Please review – I'd love to hear your thoughts!**


	2. That Lawn Mower

That Lawn Mower

O is for Otto

Otto Bagman's cane clapped against the cobbled road and echoed loudly. His cane was almost yelling "December 2nd! December 2nd!"

Otto hunched over, snuggling into his dark black cloak angrily as if trying to block the horrible voice repeating the dreaded day; he scowled, began muttering, and shoved his way through the crowd forcing him back into the town he was trying to leave.

"Ludo – you old scumbag," Otto muttered as he slammed his cane down on the ground to show his frustration and scare the kids surrounding him away.

Otto turned down the dark road and sighed in relief as he saw it was practically empty.

"No reason for anyone to be hiding out on Ludo's estate, I suppose. Nothing left to steal considering Ludo didn't give me a cent!" Otto roared, throwing his cane down once more.

Yes. It was true. Ludo Bagman was now dead. He had lived a good life, with a large estate, many grandkids and a large happy family he could be proud of. He was even proud of his own brother – Otto – or at least that's what Otto had assumed until the reading of Ludo's will.

Otto cursed as it began snowing in the dark expanse around him. He quickened his limped pace towards the gates of Ludo's estate and fumbled to find the key that fit in the keyhole. His old hands trembled and he moaned as hail began falling onto the concrete around him – that one piece eventually landing on his head.

It bounced off his head, hit him sharply in the shoulder, and clattered to the ground as if laughing – "Hahaha! I got you!" – It was almost like Otto had Ludo tapping him on his shoulder to make an ill joke as always. Otto suppressed a half-smile and fought with the gate lock, finally forcing it open and making his way up the straight walkway towards the front doors.

"Damn weather," he said, forcing himself to focus back on the horrible piece of hail. "Damn season – DAMN CHRISTMAS!"

You got it – that was also true. Otto Bagman was as rotten as any other Scrooge. He hated Christmas, and he especially hated that he got nothing out of his own brother's will.

What was that, anyway? How was it that, he – Ludo's _brother -_ didn't get a cent or anything of value out of Ludo's death? Otto wanted compensation. He wanted a damn good reason or gift to say sorry from Ludo because he had left him.

Otto had a horrible life. He had no estate. He had no grandkids. He had no happy family. Otto had nothing but an old broken down house that had a torn apart lawn due to that damn magical lawn mower. The yard had never grown correctly after that – there was always something off about the dirt. It was almost as if it never wanted to help grow a plant or any grass again. It was done with life, just like Otto.

Otto sighed and slowly brought his left leg up to take that one step towards the front doors. He trembled, as any other man would, but he managed just the same. After that lawn mower, Otto wasn't much for failing in a challenge.

Otto had failed challenges numerous times, though. All of them against his own brother. Ludo had always been more successful, and it struck Otto in the core. The one thing that struck Otto the most was that Ludo always had gotten the better presents for Christmas. _Always._

Whenever Otto had gotten a long awaited for book, Ludo would get the newest broom. Otto sneered and scrunched up his nose. That was enough of an example – it had happened three times.

Otto shoved his weak shoulder against the door – the damn door that just refused to open – and finally cracked the frozen-shut door open. The old man stumbled, but managed to catch himself on the door handle and hold himself upright with the help of his cane.

He gave a happy sigh as he closed the door – cutting himself off from the blasted cold air – and cast _lumos_ on the few lanterns that were left in the house. The last few things in this house were going to be shipped off to a charity. That was why Otto had stormed out of the meeting so uproariously. A charity? Damn charities! Damn them all!

Where was his happiness? Why didn't he get everything that Ludo had? That was what a brother was supposed to do with their will, right?_ Give at least one thing to their brother?_

The lights flooded the room and Otto stared around him, taking in all the polished flooring and twinkling red and green surrounding him.

"_Christmas,_" Otto scoffed.

He sighed and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, wondering as to which room he should go to first. He was going to raid this house and run – probably not very fast – but he would run and the Bagman's would just have to take it! They could survive without giving something to charity for once in their life. He was tired of giving, giving, giving – he wanted to take something!

With this determination in mind, Otto began to take the longest route – up the stairs – and go to the one place that Ludo probably would've kept anything important.

Otto made it to the top of the stairs easily enough. They had been magically charmed for old Ludo so it would be easier for him to make it up by making the surface rough.

Not to mention they had one of the Muggles from the small town a few streets away install some carpet.

Otto shuffled down the hallway, spluttering and waving his hands around his head to try and force away the pieces of confetti and sparkling berries from falling on his head. It was one of Ludo's old Christmas traps. He would say, "It's to keep the festivities alive!"

All Otto had to say to this was two words: screw that.

Ludo would always have something to throw back, though. A bucketful of tinsel in the face and a "Gotcha!" It was Ludo's way of changing the subject.

Once Otto was in Ludo's office, he rummaged around; he opened and closed doors. He lifted pictures and moved them. Otto was all over the place, trying to find something of value and tearing the room apart. When Otto finally found himself at a point where he felt he would start crying, he saw a door. It was normal, if anything else. It was a plain old wood and was just like any door he could find in the town down the street, but it definitely wasn't a door you would find in Ludo's estate.

Therefore, Otto opened it. The door wasn't locked, it wasn't stuck – completely trick free.

_Well_, it wasn't trick free. Some shooting stars fell from above him when he opened the door, but that's beside the point – the point of this story is that there was a brand new, gleaming Muggle lawn mower sitting right in front of him.

Otto moved closer to it in surprise and looked around the room. Coats hung on racks around him and shelves were creaking over his head menacingly in the small, cramped space. What, in Merlin's name, could a bright red Muggle lawn mower be doing in Ludo's closet?

He picked up a small note card hanging from the side of the Muggle artifact, raising his old disappearing eyebrows, and read the one word on the card. "Gotcha."

Then, a bucket filled with tinsel fell over his eyes, causing Otto to laugh aloud.

**

* * *

A/N: **So, it wasn't as great as I want it to be – really. HOWEVER, I do feel like I'm laughing right along with Otto. It was a good change to take on a character that was only mentioned in passing once. By the way, if you don't remember, the Muggle lawn mower thing was a problem that Mr. Weasley helped fixed – which is why the family got the tickets to the Quidditch World Cup.

**Reviews would delight me and be loved!**


	3. That White Dress

That White Dress

V is for Victoire

Victoire trailed her hand along the hem of her dress slowly. She was sitting on a comfortable couch, her legs pulled up beside her, staring dreamily out the window. Her dress was beautiful, and she was as happy as she could be.

December 3rd was such a great date. Almost perfect in a sense. She couldn't believe her Mum had listened.

Victoire started as someone rapped on her bedroom door. "Victoire?" Fleur called in a muffled tone.

"Yes, Mum?" Victoire asked, revelling in the strangeness that was her mum's voice. It had changed so much over the years. Victoire's father had been giving her mum lessons to improve her English.

"Are you ready to come down to eat dinner?"

"I'll be there in a minute," Victoire said as she jumped to her feet and ran to the armoire in front of her couch. She quickly pulled on a robe and looked down at her feet to make sure that her Mum wouldn't notice Victoire wearing a dress.

"Darling, are you okay?" Fleur asked as Victoire noisily knocked against her bedside table as she had tried to adjust the robe and caused numerous important items to fall to the hard wood floor.

"Yeah, Mum! I'm fine," Victoire said. "Je ne suis pas blessé."

"Ê-êtes vous sûr?" Fleur asked, slipping into her French hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm sure," Victoire snapped, unleashing a bit of her teenager.

"Okay. Okay," Fleur whispered. "Come down when you're ready."

Victoire took cautious steps towards the door and pressed her ear against it slowly, checking to make sure her mum had really left. Once she heard the stairs stop creaking, she ran to her armoire and threw it open. Victoire rifled through her clothes in a frenzy, picking out a good pair of Muggle jeans and a light blue shirt.

Once Victoire had managed to get out of her dress and put on her new clothes, she picked up the dress and held it up to the sunset shining through her window-seat. She sighed as the glitter bounced sunlight everywhere and she quickly hugged the strapless dress. She had been asking for the dress for quite a few months – she wanted to wear it to the annual Victory Ball held at Hogwarts at the end of each year to celebrate the end of Voldemort's reign. Everyone dressed up – and for the first time she would be too!

Victoire knelled on the ground by the armoire and pulled the box out from under it. She opened it, causing wrapping paper to fly out. She bit her lip as her conscience began to nag at her, and she quickly folded the dress neatly and stuffed it into the pink box with silver writing. "Le peu magasin de robe," it said.

Victoire gave a sigh of contentment and picked up the box to hug it. Her mum had gotten such a grand dress for Christmas! Her life was now complete. She would go to that dance – just waltz in – and all eyes would turn on her. They'd see how beautiful she was and she would land all the guys. Well, more guys than normal.

A smile slowly crept up Victoire's face and she just shook her head. It was _truly _unbelievable. Victoire slowly stood up, stretched, and then walked out of her bedroom, turning instantly and running down the stairs. By the smell of it, the food was going to be delicious.

"Where's Dad?" Victoire asked as she entered the room, noting her father's empty seat.

"He's running late. He _shall _be back soon," Fleur replied awkwardly. She still stumbled over her English sometimes.

Victoire nodded and smiled sweetly at her siblings sitting at the table.

They gave her knowing looks and smirked, causing her smile to falter. If they knew that she had peeked at her Christmas presents and told, she would be so dead.

Fleur set down her fork slowly and turned to Victoire. "What have you been doing today?" She asked with a laugh. "I have not seen you all day."

Victoire stared dumbfounded at her mother. "Uh - er – I - ow!" Victoire reached down to her leg and shot a deep glare at her brother Louis.

He smirked evilly and ducked his head back down to his food, chewing slowly.

"Um – I've been reading this book I got in Hogsmeade!" Victoire declared as she turned back to her mum with a new spark in her eye.

"Oh, what book is it?" Fleur asked as she picked up her napkin and dabbed at her lips.

"It's ca-" Suddenly, Victoire broke off into a fake coughing fit. What book could she possibly think of? She really didn't read at all unless it was for school.

"Are you okay, Darling?" Fleur asked as she leaned over Victoire and put her hand on Victoire's back.

Victoire jerked, feeling red hot at her mother's touch. How could she be such a terrible daughter? She was lying straight to her face all for a beautiful, beautiful dress.

"Er – I...Mum, I'll go get it. I'll be back!" Victoire pushed past her mother anxiously and ran up the stairs, pounding her feet down loudly. She opened her bedroom door and ran into the purple room, fervently looking for any kind of book she could possibly show her mum.

Victoire stumbled over the box on the floor and fell to the floor loudly.

"I'm back!" A deep voice cried, causing Victoire to hurry to her feet. Judging by the gasps she had heard from the kitchen, the family had heard her fall and they would all come rushing up to her room to see what had happened; to see the Christmas dress. Victoire cursed and rushed to hide the dress.

"Where are you all going?" Her father's voice sounded.

"Victoire went up to her room and then we heard a loud crash," Fleur said with a trembling voice.

Victoire glanced around the room frantically and stood up onto her feet, running to her armoire. She had to hide the dress and then fix up the wrapping paper tonight so she could put it back in its rightful spot before her parents caught her!

As quickly as she could, she stuffed the large box into the armoire, she then shoved the two doors closed and turned around to her family – who had just arrived.

"Are you all right, Victoire?" Bill asked.

Victoire gave a tight smile and nodded frantically. "I'm fine. Je suis grande, en fait!"

Fleur and Bill exchanged disbelieving looks. Bill then turned to his daughter with a half smirk. "Hand over the dress."

"Louis, Dominique – leave, please," Fleur demanded.

Louis' face fell and he slouched, slowly dragging himself out of the room while Dominique gave a high-and-mighty laugh, closing the door behind her.

Victoire blushed angrily and scuffed her bare foot against the wood floor angrily, causing her to wince.

"Darling, you can still have the dress," Fleur said sweetly.

"I can?" Victoire asked, raising her head in surprise as she dug out the dress from her armoire happily.

"Yeah," Bill said as he reached out for the dress and wrenched it from her grasp, "but you'll have to wait until you birthday."

"What?" Victoire said in surprise, furrowing her eyebrows and glaring at her father. "What if it doesn't arrive on time!"

"We'll see what happens," Victoire's mum said, giving her a small wink. Victoire suppressed a smile. She would be getting the dress!

Bill nodded. "You'll just have to wait and see if you get it on time for the Ball."

Victoire fixed her face to an angry, upset expression. There was no need to let Dad know she would still be getting the dress until Christmas.

Fleur placed her hand on Bill's arm softly. "Bill, let's go eat. Victoire can stay here and think."

Bill nodded and turned towards the door, but still keeping his eye on Victoire. "You realize you've done wrong, right?"

Victoire nodded sullenly.

"Good, think about that some more," Bill muttered.

Victoire sighed as she watched her parents leave, but once the door had closed and she heard them make it to the bottom of the stairs, Victoire jumped onto her couch in victory.

* * *

**A/N: **By the way, if you haven't gotten this already – my story jumps around in time. It's really just a bunch of one-shots thrown together.

I'm so sorry that I didn't use Fleur's accent. I just tried and I didn't feel comfortable with it. Moreover, I feel that if Fleur had problems speaking English, then Victoire would too and that would just create a very complicated mess for me. Therefore, they still speak French – obviously – but Fleur has just been getting better at speaking English.

Um...also – I am one day behind right now. I plan to write two chapters on Saturday to catch up. Pray for me.

**Reviews are adored and would be a wonderful present!**


	4. That Diamond Ring

That Diamond Ring

E is for Ernie

Ernie MacMillan coughed roughly as he trudged through Diagon Alley. It had been a tiring day at work, and his whole day had been based around this meeting. Thankfully, it wasn't a work meeting but instead a date with his girlfriend, Susan Bones.

Ernie turned towards the small shop with a small crowd inside and pushed through the door. He took off his scarf and immediately walked toward the ginger-haired girl sitting at a small table in the back, giving a smile. "Mind telling me why we're eating ice cream on December 4th?"

"It's the grand opening," Susan said with a slight tap on Ernie's shoulder. "Don't be so rude. Floreana really wanted me to come. Who else but a few select people would come to a reopening of an ice cream shop in winter?"

"What happened to her father, anyway?" Ernie asked as he pulled off his coat.

"Shh!" Susan said, hitting him even harder. "Don't remind her of that. I'm sure she's already thinking about it. We don't need you to make things worse."

Ernie put up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. Y'know what?"

"What?" Susan asked in exasperation. She placed her elbow on the table and then sat her chin on her hand, staring up at him as if she was tired of him – but with a special gleam in her eye and a small smirk.

"What's up with that?" Ernie asked, playing along.

Susan sighed. "Just tell me."

"No. You can just sit here and stew about how you don't know what I'm going to say to Flo," Ernie said. He stuck up his nose in a pompous manner, making her giggle slightly.

"I'll go with you. I haven't given Flo a "good job" for all the great work she's done," Susan said.

"No!" Ernie said quickly.

Susan widened her eyes and slouched in her seat slightly. "Well, what's the matter?"

Ernie shook his head. "Look, it's nothing. What kind of ice cream do you want?"

"Er – I suppose I'll just have the Christmas Special," Susan said softly.

"Two Christmas Specials – I'll be back," Ernie said with a smile.

"Okay," Susan said. She sat back in her seat, slouching slightly, and sighed.

Ernie turned back towards her quickly, leaning down and kissing her on the cheek. "Love you."

Susan gave a forgiving smile. "Love you too."

"Good," Ernie muttered. He then quickly turned away and forced himself to walk slowly. He stared at all the decorations and nodded to himself. It was simple, but it fit perfectly for the season. Green and red decorated the ceilings for Christmas, but there was still a hint of purple decorations – the main colour that Floreana Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour took for its theme.

Once he saw Floreana, he quickly walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder to pull her away from her conversation with the old couple.

The black-haired girl turned around and gave a wide smile once she realized who it was. "Ernie! I'm so happy you're here. Okay, so how is everything going?" She said as she nudged Ernie with her elbow.

Ernie suppressed a smile. "It's fine. She doesn't suspect a thing. You have everything ready?"

Floreana clapped her hands together quickly and walked away with Ernie towards the counter, completely abandoning the old couple she had just been speaking to. "Do I have everything ready? Of course. Just tell me the ice cream she wants and I'll get the ring."

"Just get us two Christmas Specials," Ernie said with a smile, as if trying to calm down the hyperactive parlour owner.

"All right – coming up!" Floreana said with a squeal and skip. She disappeared into the back room, which was closed off by a stainless steel door, and came back moments later with two clear plastic bowls – spoons already in the green and red striped ice cream.

Floreana placed the ice cream on the counter and looked at Ernie pointedly. "The ring is in the one on the right. Remember that."

Ernie nodded. "My right or your right?"

Floreana let her mouth drop and then she looked at the bowls of ice cream in anger, her eyebrows stitching together.

"You do know, don't you?" Ernie said in a panicked voice.

"Yes! It's my right. So, your left," Floreana said with a curt nod of the head.

"Are you sure?" Ernie asked, his eyes growing wide.

Floreana looked back at the ice cream, and then looked up at Ernie with a quick roll of the eyes. "I'm sure. Go on!" She said, shooing him away with her hands.

"I'm going," Ernie said. He picked up the ice cream and turned around, but he refused to go any farther. Susan was staring right at him, waiting for Ernie to come back to the table, a smile plastered on her face. Ernie gave a nervous smile and lifted up one of the bowls of ice cream to acknowledge that she was looking at him. Susan waved, and then tucked her ginger hair behind her ear.

"Move!" Floreana said as she leaned over the counter. "You've been dating for two years and you live in the same building – not much is going to change if you ask her to marry you, you prat!"

Ernie turned to her, boring his eyes into her face in annoyance.

"Sorry, sorry," Floreana said. She backed slowly up to the door towards all the ice cream. Fumbling for the large handle, she pushing it down and ran into the ice cream box, shutting the door behind her.

Ernie shook his head and took a deep breath, exhaling, and then forcing himself to walk towards Susan. All the while, he kept repeating that the ice cream bowl he needed to give Susan was in his left hand. Left hand. Left hand. Left hand.

"What took so long? How's Flo doing?" Susan asked as she grabbed the ice cream that he handed to her – which was from his left hand.

"She kept on talking. She's high-strung with all this excitement, I guess," Ernie muttered as he sat down and quickly dug into his ice cream.

"She's always high-strung," Susan said with a laugh. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Ernie laughed and took another scoop of ice cream and stuffing it in his face, keeping his eye on each bite Susan took.

"Ernie, are you all right? You seem a bit pale and peaky," Susan said. She reached out and placed the back of her hand on his forehead. "You've been overworking yourself, haven't you?"

Ernie shook his head and straightened himself up. "I'm fine."

Susan shrugged and took another bite of ice cream just as Ernie did. He chewed it quickly instead of waiting for it to slide down his throat. He would do anything to keep his mouth full instead of talking.

"Ow!" Ernie cried out.

"What? What's the matter?" Susan asked hurriedly.

Ernie stuck his fingers into his mouth slowly, his face growing red. He sighed as he revealed a silver diamond ring between his fingers.

"Oh, well that's strange. I'll go get Flo, she'll probably want her ring back," Susan gave a laugh and sighed. "I really wouldn't put it past her to lose it when scooping ice cream."

Ernie coughed uncomfortably. "Well, you really don't need to do that."

"Why not?" Susan asked, appalled. "You're not suggesting we keep the ring!"

"No, no," Ernie said slowly. "Er – I suppose I should just do this properly now that the whole thing is ruined."

"What are you talking about?" Susan asked slowly, a blush creeping up her cheeks from her neck.

Ernie pushed out his chair and slowly got on one knee, grabbing Susan's hand. "Um – I'm kind of nervous. So, er – you remember how you said you loved me earlier?"

Susan took a deep breath and nodded quickly, exhaling heavily and staring at him with wide eyes.

"Will you marry me?" Ernie said breathlessly.

Susan took a sharp breath. "Even when you got down on your knee, I didn't believe it," she said while biting her lip and giving a nervous laugh.

Ernie slowly pulled his eyes up from her freckled nose and stared into her watery eyes. "Well?"

Susan gave a great sniff and then proceeded to nod. "Yes."

Ernie breathed a sigh of relief and slipped the ring onto her finger. He stood up with her, and then gave her a tight hug and kissed her on the lips. "This'll be great – I promise."

Susan laughed, throwing her arms back around Ernie's neck. "Oh, I know."

"Shoot!"

Susan and Ernie pulled away as they heard a clatter come from their table, turning to see who had yelled.

"So did it work, Ernie?" Floreana asked excitedly as she straightened herself up.

"Flo?" Ernie started.

"Yeah?" Floreana said with her eyes gleaming.

"You need to learn your left and rights."

* * *

**A/N: **Well? Did you like it? Personally, I feel like this is my best one. I just loved working with this piece because I literally went to Word without knowing what I would do with Ernie, and just started writing. And when I started, I thought maybe I would do something about Quidditch – but it obviously turned into something completely different.

**I hope you enjoyed the story – please review!**


	5. That Butterbeer

That Butterbeer

W is for Winky

Winky the House-elf let her socked feet clap against the stone cold floors loudly as she ran around to the Hogwarts kitchen.

It was December 6th and all the House-elves were to have a meeting about the Secret House-elves- where they would all draw names out of a pillowcase and then proceed to give that House-elf a present for Christmas.

Winky had thought of it herself, which she was extremely proud of.

Once she made it to her destination – which was a small corridor that was bare of residents – Winky tapped on the wall next to her. Slowly, the concealed wooden door moved to the side loudly and Winky squeezed her way through as quickly as possible. She pounded the small gold knob on the wall next to her, causing the door to close behind her.

When Winky was sure the door was closed, she fought her way to the front of the bustle that the House-elves were making and then stood up at the front of the room, on top of the table – which they had respectfully thought to put a cloth over. They didn't want the table to be dirty for the midnight guests they sometimes received.

"S'cuse me?" Winky squeaked.

A few people in the front of the crowd closed their mouths, but most of the House-elves continued speaking.

"S'cuse me?" Winky said again, a little bit more loudly. She fingered her knitted sweater nervously. It was a hard job for her to do – being the head House-elf. She hadn't always been the head after Dobby, though. Originally, it had been Tonny, but he soon grew tired and quit. And then Winky had decided it was time to stop mourning the tragedy that had happened so many years ago. It was time to take that final step and become a good Kitchen worker. She needed to make friends too – which she succeeded at.

Winky's reconciliation went as follows: she first began to cut down on butterbeer – mostly because she focused on housework much more than anything else. She then proceeded to start talking to others more instead of crying. The next few steps were just laying off butterbeer for good and slowly understanding that having clothes was a good thing. She was happy to be free.

Winky only wished that Dobby knew how happy she was now. It was all thanks to him, really. All her time here, she knew that Dobby had really cared for her and tried hard to make her happy, and she had never repaid him – never let him know that she was thankful.

But then again, at the time, she wasn't very thankful and she had just wanted him to leave her alone, but now she was thankful. Once he got the idea into her head that she shouldn't really be happy by what her master had done, she slowly came to terms with the idea and accepted it.

"S'cuse me?" Winky said, practically yelling now. Remembering Dobby and how strong he was always gave her strength.

Finally, the crowd quieted and she gave a shy smile, casting her large brown eyes at the floor. "I thinks we should start the Secret House-elf project. Who has the sack?"

"Me!" A House-elf said. He climbed up the chair slowly, snapping his fingers to make the sack fly up next to Winky.

"One elf c'mon up at a time and pick'sa name. Work until ev'ryone has a name," Winky slurred.

Then the process began – one elf would come up, pick a name, then go off to work to make some food for the dinner tonight.

Winky worked too. She hustled and bustled, never paying any mind to the pillowcase on the table. She did have friends within all these elves, but she doubted she'd pull their names. Besides, she didn't really want to buy a present for an elf she didn't know well.

"Hey, Winky!" A voice called.

Winky turned around and searched for the voice that called her. Winky's dark brown eyes fell on Osma, her best friend.

Osma held out the pillowcase. "One name left."

Winky sighed in defeat and reached her hand into the bag, but she couldn't find it. Therefore, she set down the crate full of carrots in her arms and stuffed her head into the sack, finally finding the slip of paper. Once she had it in her hand and had her head out of the sack, she unravelled the paper and read the name.

"Dobby," it said.

Winky looked up at her best friend. "What should I do?"

"I tink he'd like t'know Winky fixed t'butterbeer problem," Osma said with a sweet smile. "And that Winky loves all he done for Winky."

Winky frowned and nodded, giving a small wave to her friend. She stuffed the paper in her pocket, and picked up the crate of carrots in the idea of starting back work again.

Instead, she found herself nervous and distracted. She set down the crate once again and turned to a room meant for storing all the food. Once she was in there, Winky paced all around the shelves, wondering what she would give Dobby and how she would give it to him.

Then the idea came to her. It was when she had seen a crate full of butterbeer. Slowly, she pulled a glass out and stared at it – almost feeling as if she should rip off the cap and chug down the butterbeer.

Instead, she ran back out into the kitchen and then proceeded to turn and climb the stairs up to the sleeping chambers. She crawled to her bed and pulled out a small box full of possessions. With paper and pen now in hand, she scrawled a quick "Thank you, Dobby" being reminded of how great some of the students at Hogwarts were as they had taught many House-elves to read and write.

Winky carefully placed the butterbeer glass into the box, along with the note, and stood up to walk towards the stairs and resume her work. Instead, she found herself stop at the top of the stairs and turn back towards the box. She would feel distracted all month until she gave that present to Dobby. Winky gave a small sigh and walked back to the box, opening it, and staring at the present.

There was only one thing to do – give it to him now.

Winky picked up her present and snapped her fingers – apparating to Dobby's grave.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, that was a good chapter. It was cool to go into Winky's perspective – especially since it is such a rare occurrence to see.

Anyway, I only had one major insecurity about this chapter. I felt weird about how I made the House-elves talk. I did not feel like it was right, but I tried my hardest to switch back between grammatically correct English, and the way the House-elves speak. Did it work?

**Please review!**


	6. That Membership Form

That Membership Form

I is for Idris

Idris Oakby had founded the S.S.S. However, as an old woman now, she found herself less inclined to lead the Society for the Support of Squibs onward and upward.

She sighed, stared at the large pile of fan mail on her desk, and gave a sad smile. She had wanted to pass on the torch to someone else, but these fans had kept her going. Only, now she knew that she would die soon.

She had been in St. Mungo's today – December 6th – and had found out that her magic was depleting. It was a rare occurrence and there was a chance that she would survive, but she could only hope of such a good outcome. She had asked the nurses at the hospital to give it to her straight –and she was surprised at how forward they had been.

_"Well, Mrs. Oakby – you're going to die from magic depletion."_

_"Is there any chance of me surviving?" The gray-haired lady asked._

_"It's slim. Generally, this only happens if a witch or wizard doesn't exercise their magic as much as they should."_

_"How would it be that the founder of the Society for the Support of Squibs would use magic constantly, though?" Idris had protested._

_"I'm sorry. You have until the 24__th__ with the rate your magic is leaving you."_

Idris shook her head. It was such a shame – she loved Christmas and she would miss it. Oh dear, how could she possibly go through any of the witches and wizards that were members, and ask them to live as she did with these Squibs?

Idris lived in a large multi-floored house with many Squibs who wanted to be a part of the magical world, but found they could not do it on their own. Therefore, out of respect for their sensitivity to magic, she always made a point to cut down on magic while living here. These people looked up to her.

Idris sat down at her desk and fixed her blue glasses higher up on her nose. She sifted through all the fan mail and gave smiles at each one, slowly penning out thankful replies.

Thinking to herself, she concluded that it would be a wonderful Christmas present if only she could find someone perfect to take over her job. Then she could go to rest calmly – not even worrying about missing Christmas day.

Idris jumped as someone knocked at her bedroom door and then stood up to open it. "Yes?" She asked the man named Bob.

"Er – Ms. Arabella Figg is here for you, ma'am," Bob said timidly.

"Bob," Idris said, "I know that you're new to the group, but really – you can call me Idris. We'll be hanging out for quite a while."

Idris let her mouth drop as she realized what a lie that was. She wouldn't be here for much longer; she wouldn't get to know Bob very well. She wouldn't get to change any more Squibs lives.

Idris coughed to cover up the momentary lapse and fixed her bright blue robes. "All right, well how about you send Ms. Figg up here for me, Bob?"

Bob nodded and Idris closed the door as soon as he was down the stairs.

Idris quickly walked to her desk, trying to push all the fan mail into one of the giant mail bags she had stashed away in her closet. She had accumulated many over the years from members and Squibs, but she had to be honest – most of them were from people regularly as she always found time to reply to them all. She had gained many pen pals over the years.

A knock sounded at the door again and then a thin lady entered the room. She wore slippers and a very large coat. She walked over to Idris, once she had seen her and immediately held out her hand. "Arabella Figg. I just wanted to meet you in person to tell you how much I support your cause. I also wanted to hand in this membership form in person," Arabella said swiftly as she held out a folded piece of paper.

Idris smiled graciously and took the piece of paper after letting go of Arabella's hand. "Of course. I shouldn't be surprised."

"What?" Arabella asked.

"You're a Squib," Idris said. "For some reason I felt like you were a witch. We don't get many witches and wizards as members."

Arabella nodded. "I keep myself very involved in the magical world."

Idris gave a wide smile and nodded, suddenly with an idea. Why hadn't she thought of it before? "Ms. Figg – I have a proposition for you."

"Yes?" Arabella asked.

"Here – sit down. We're going to be talking for a while," Idris said as she gestured to two lounging chairs she had placed by the window.

Arabella nodded curtly and shuffled over to the chair, sitting herself down primly. "What is this proposition?" She asked as Idris sat down across from her.

"Well, I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before – but I am going to need to pass on my torch to someone. I'm growing old, and I know I will die by the 24th. None of this has been announced as I haven't had an idea of what I should do to pass on my President status," Idris started.

"Sorry for interrupting – but are you asking me?" Arabella asked, flushing a deep red and staring at Idris with wide eyes.

Idris nodded and smiled. "I'm dying of magic depletion. I don't use much magic around here as I don't want to hurt the Squibs of this household. They're sensitive, you know. I really did not want to ask another witch or wizard to take over my place though because I feel that many members would act in the same way."

"Of course," Arabella agreed.

"So, hearing how you feel about this cause – how you wished to hand me the membership paper yourself and give your praise, I can only feel that you might be perfect for the job. You seem like a very dedicated, studious lady."  
Arabella nodded and smiled.

"Would you accept this job?" Idris asked swiftly.

Arabella opened her mouth in surprise, but closed it. Then, she slowly inclined her head forward and smiled. "I'd love to."

And Idris' heart soared. She got her Christmas present.

* * *

**A/N: **So, Idris Oakby is not very well known. If anything, she was mentioned once or not at all. Anyway, I found her on a character list, and she was a part of JK Rowling's Wizard of the Month Archive. Therefore, this idea just came to me instantly.

By the way, within all these chapters there is a hidden message. I suppose it is very hard to see, but it is a long message with one part being added after every single chapter. Whoever figures it out gets brownie points! (At this point, though, it will be too early to figure out what the message is, but by the end of this challenge, if everyone figures out where to look, you will know what the message is.)

**How did you like it? Review please!**


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